Before you get riled up about the men above barebacking, they're not. It's Justin Christopher fucking Max Schutler in "Mirage" using Raging Stallion's "reduced visibility condoms" developed by Raging Stallion president Chris Ward. It's barebacking light: all the visual pleasure with none of the risk. We're posting it because many of this week's top 10 QCommentors had strong opinions on barebacking as raised in last week's Top 10 and the Dustin Lance Black video.
First, let's start with Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning screenwriter for Milk. Despite some comments made against our doing so, we do not consider posting naked pictures of his consensually made sex-tape as a "tearing down" of a positive gay figure. Yes, puritanical America thinks all sex should be kept behind closed doors and that any celebrity with their cock on camera is a "bad role model," but that's old-fashioned. We actually like Dustin Lance Black and didn't post his sex pics just for prurience or increased traffic, but to acknowledge that he's a beautiful man who likes to fuck. We'd be derelict in our duty as a porn blog if we didn't post them and have been consistently opposed to the idea that sex on film should disqualify anyone from public success.
You may think our position naive or disingenuous, but the fact that Leo Giamani, Colton Ford, Francois Sagat and other porn stars have achieved some mainstream success in modeling, acting, and music despite their porn pasts shows how this attitude is slowly changing. Mr. Black has explained himself, apologized for the pics, and kept his already scheduled public appearances. If anything, the pics render him more of an honest-to-goodness gay man complete with weaknesses, desires, and contradictions. What he filmed, many men (gay or straight) do everyday... he's no different from them and that reality won't likely prevent him from continuing a successful path.
But we'll get off our soapbox and let the QCommentors have at it. First, BklnQueer disapproved of Mr. Black's barebacking (or would that be bareblacking?) for the message it sends:
Lance is one of the Grand Marshals of the NYC Gay Pride Parade this year. While he should be lauded for Milk, showing off barebacking (anyone who tapes anything has to know at some level it's going to surface in the public sphere) is simply a message of death and is not what that proverbial kid Lance addressed at the Oscars needs to see a role model engaged in. Mixed messages? You bet it is. He needs to own up to this fast, say it was stupid (no matter what the circumstances of his relationship were), and press for safe sex loud, clear, and unambiguously.
H. Davila had a similar sentiment in response to last Week's Top 10, although, unlike BklnQueer, he called out barebacking porn studios for promoting "unsafe sex":
What 2 adults do in the privacy of their intimacy it's up to them...BUT, these sites that endorse, promote and condone unprotected gay sex are doing a dis-service to the gay community. After decades of stride, thousands of deaths and still no cure for AIDS, what is the point of thinking HIV and AIDS are not walk in the park? I do feel really upset when these sites hurt the minds and misinform young gay adults who need guidance. Shame on you for promoting unsafe sex. Why these sites do not come up with pictures and forums of these "actors" and models 5-10yrs from now to see how healthy they are? Self-destructing behavior and denial doesn't get you anywhere good. I am a 100% gay, masculine and proud of it. I live an active and healthy way of life with no need of drugs or worry about diseases because I was lucky enough to get well informed and protect myself. You can still live a life of great pleasure and lots of sex without putting one of others in danger. It's the mature and responsible thing to do...I do not buy porn from bareback studios either...
We're curious what our QCommentors make of the picture above. Raging Stallion has said that "DVD's [with "reduced visibility condoms"] will be including footage on special features of the discs that prove that condoms are being used. And a viewer with an large HD screen TV will still be able to see the condom on close up or freeze frame." Is this a good compromise or is Mr. Ward promoting unsafe sex in his quest for greater profits? The debate continues via QComments. QCommenting on the DLB's response, tony diaz made an interesting point by stating the obvious:
Three babies are born every single second on this Earth. Guess where they come from. Heteros having unprotected sex. Is there a double standard?
It'd certainly be naive to say that all baby-poppin' straight couples are getting rigorously tested before fucking. So some amount of barebacking is considered acceptable in society at large, but in gay society? In our conversations with gay porn directors, they've pointed out that straight porn studios rarely use condoms. Of course, there's also been a recent straight porn star diagnosed with HIV, "triggering an industry-wide investigation and fears of a clampdown by the state." In fact, the LA County health department has uncovered 16 other previously unreported HIV cases since.
Yet, some QCommentors see barebacking as a more nuanced issue whose lines are much harder to draw. One such QCommentror, Realitycheck, reveals the shades of grey concerning DLB and his response:
Also wanted to say that the behavior of those who are so vehemently against "bareback" in light of this shows how deluded a small clan of them are. Here is a person who advocates safe sex publicly yet, in his personal relationship engaged in sex without a condom. (happens quite often too, I'd bet) Imagine that - a person being against wanton unsafe sex, but not against condomless sex at any and all times. Oh, could it be it be because the world isn't black ans white and condomless sex doesn't mean unsafe sex ipso facto and vice versa?
We agree, it's not so easy an issue to breakdown as barebacking = bad, condoms = good. QCommenting on last week's Top 10, Jay called all the hue and cry about barebacking a form of "panic propaganda":
You know, it's sad reading these comments. Really, it is. It's almost as if even the LGBTQQ community believes, along with the majority, that HIV/AIDS is exclusively a homosexual issue. Do you know how many straight studios do unprotected sex? It's actually rather weird to see straight porn that DOES have condoms, but no one says a damn thin about it! Really, explain to me what the risk is to either model who has tested negative for HIV/AIDS? If neither of them are infected with an STI, does it really matter whether they use a condom or not? Truly, this is an excellent example of the result of panic propaganda and self-perpetuating homophobia.
It's worth mentioning that gay author, Tim Dean, recently released a book entitled Unlimited Intimacy that concludes that "HIV animates the controversy around barebacking," and that "intimacy makes us vulnerable, exposes us to emotional risk, and forces us to drop our psychological barriers. As a committed experiment in intimacy without limits—one that makes those metaphors of intimacy quite literal—barebacking thus says a great deal about how intimacy works." In the end, Roma suggested a compromise about Dustin Lance Black that we can all agree on:
I think I speak on behalf of everybody ever when I say that this situation would be rectified best, if Dustin created another sex-tape, shot in HD with multiple angles, positions and condoms - you know, to emphasise the importance of safe sex...or something.
Sean Cody's 1 in 125, the real winner of the Fratmen wrestler scandal, and more after the jump!
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